Redirect
by Jaenelle Angelline
Summary: A look at how the rumors of Alex and Olivia's relationship got started. FINISHED. Continued in 'Valentine' and finished in 'Run'. Read, review please! Thanks!


Title: Redirect

Rating: Mature audience only, please. Language and adult situations.

Pairing: Olivia/Alex

Disclaimer: I don't own, so you don't sue. I have nothing you'd want anyway.

Notes: I always swore I'd never get sucked into this particular trap, writing Liv into an erotic story with Alex, but hey, we writers can't control our muses, so here's the story of how Liv and Alex got 'together'. I'm afraid this may come across as slightly out of character, but I usually try to stay as close to canon as possible. Feedback is, as always, appreciated, and feel free to email me if you'd prefer that to the review forum!

Redirect

"I don't know about you girls, but I'm bushed," Elliot Stabler leaned back in his chair and scrubbed his hands over his face. "It's been a long day. Aren't you tired?" he asked Olivia and Alex.

"I really want to get this down before court tomorrow," Alexandra Cabot said absently as she flipped through the mountain of paperwork spread out on the table in front of them.

"Come on, Alex, it's almost midnight. It is almost tomorrow," Elliot grumbled. "Munch and Fin have probably already left, and I know the Cap left hours ago. There's not much else we can do until tomorrow."

"Well, if you want to bail, go ahead," Alex stated flatly. "I'm staying."

Elliot stared at Olivia over Alex's head and mouthed _something's wrong._ Olivia nodded, the barest movement of her head, barely perceptible, and her eyes flicked toward the door. Elliot got the message; _go on, we'll have some girl talk._ Smiling inwardly, he stretched and got up out of his chair. "Well, I think I'll take that offer," he said, attracting Alex's attention with the movement. "I guess I'll go home and let my wife know I'm still alive."

"Oh God, Elliot, I'm sorry," Alex said, crestfallen. "I forgot about Kathy. Yeah, go on, I think we've gone over your testimony as thoroughly as we can. I'll just wrap things up with Olivia."

"All right. Don't work too hard," Elliot said with a wink to Olivia. She nodded, and he breezed out of the conference room.

There was silence for a while, then Olivia asked quietly, "Alex, what's wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong. What makes you think there is?" Alex's response was a little too quick.

"Because you're snapping my head off. And Elliot's," Olivia pointed out.

Alex closed the folder, pulling off her glasses and rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry, Olivia. I didn't mean to. It's just…things have got me down lately." She leaned back in her chair, eyes closed.

"What things?" Olivia leaned back in her chair, never taking her eyes off her friend.

"Oh come on, Olivia. You've heard the rumors."

Olivia nodded. "Yeah. I have. I'd have to be blind and deaf…and I think I'd still hear it. Cap's ordered the uniforms not to talk about it in the squad room, though, and John and El and Fin know you too well to believe them."

"Yeah, well, the DA's office is buzzing. And the defense attorneys have somehow heard about it too." Alex sighed and rested her chin in her hands. "You know, when I was in law school, being the 'Ice Queen' didn't bother me as much. I was too wrapped up in classes and exams and things like that to let it bother me. Now it does."

"Why?"

Alex made a frustrated sound and looked at Olivia. "Because I really don't have time, and I'm really not interested. I love my work. I might go out for a drink, or a casual fling, but I need all my time for my cases, and everything else is a sideline. I never wanted a husband and two point five kids and a dog and a white picket fence. I have everything I want here, now, and it drives me nuts that people think that means I'm…frigid." Her eyes dropped.

"Alex. Just because we're devoted to our careers, our work, doesn't mean we're frigid. Forget them." Olivia closed the folder in front of Alex.

"Easier said than done." Alex leaned back in her chair again, this time laying her head back so her blond hair spilled down the back of the chair. "Do you know how many offers I've gotten, from defense attorneys, judges, cops, and even, for God's sake, by Harry Cooper, that prick in Vice who thinks he's God's gift to women? I think the guys here are the only ones who haven't hit on me." She sighed. "I think I even heard a rumor from Homicide that I was lesbian. I think it would be easier if I were, then guys wouldn't bug me."

Olivia put a hand on Alex's arm, and the blond lawyer looked at the twinkle in her eye. "So redirect the rumor mill. Make them think you are. It'll get them off your back."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Yeah. All right. With who? I don't know anyone who would help me play out that particular scenario, and even if I did, if there are any other girls in the circles we run in who swing that way, I'd be getting propositions from them too. It would have to be someone really established, someone no one would even think of trying to break me up with."

"I would."

It was said in a whisper so low Alex almost missed it. And then it still took a couple of minutes for the words to actually process. "What?"

Well, the words were out there. "I would." Olivia repeated, a little louder. "You're my friend, Alex. And Harry Cooper is a son of a bitch."

"But…you went out with Jeff. And Nick. And Andy. Everyone knows you're straight. How would you pull that off?"

"Some people swing both ways, Alex; and they're more discreet about the other direction than the normal one."

Alex closed her eyes and counted to ten, then reversed and counted back. "I must be dreaming, my best friend just told me she'd be willing to play the lesbian to get Harry Cooper off my back. Please tell me I'm dreaming."

"Would it be a good dream?"

"Harry off my back? Yes. You?" Alex shook her head. "Olivia…this is going to wreak havoc with your love life. I can't do that to you."

"First of all, you're not 'doing' anything to my love life. My love life is practically nonexistent these days. I haven't had a date in months." Six, but she wasn't going to get into details. Alex didn't need to know that. "If you're worried about what the rumor mill will say, don't, because I'm not. I do what I want to do, and everyone else can go to hell. I don't have to answer to them."

"Well…have you ever…?" Alex let her voice trail off; she wasn't sure how to phrase her question.

She didn't have to. Olivia knew exactly what she was trying to ask. "I went to Siena College," Olivia said. "I was in a sorority. I tell you, sorority hazing can be every bit as grueling as a fraternity hazing, just in a different way. Girls can be meaner to other girls than guys can. Guys just don't have that much…creativity and knowledge…of a woman's body." She smiled ruefully. "Or at least, that's what I thought before I started working in the SVU."

"So you…actually…have…"Alex trailed off, trying to wrap her mind around the thought of Olivia and another girl doing…whatever. "What's that like?"

Olivia got up, went to the door of the conference room, and opened it. The squad room was deserted. Closing the door, she went to sit next to Alex, close enough to be inside Alex's personal space but not close enough to make the other woman uncomfortable. "It's different," she said finally, after a moment spent in trying to decide how to explain it and giving up. "It's not like it is with a guy."

Alex's eyes were skeptical, and Olivia smiled as she leaned in close. "If it makes this any better," she said, "Close your eyes." Alex stared into Olivia's eyes for a long moment, then let her eyelids drift closed.

The first touch of Olivia's lips against her own felt like an electric shock. Alex sucked in a sharp breath, parting her lips just a little, enough for a breath, but there was another complication as Olivia's tongue slipped into her mouth. Not demanding, insistent, but…gentle. Knowing but hesitant. Olivia knew what she was doing, but she wasn't quite sure Alex was okay with it.

Oh hell. The squad room was deserted, Elliot had to have left already, and there was no one here but herself and Liv. She hadn't had a date in a long time, and never with another woman, but hell, she'd always been curious, and if her friend was offering…She knew Olivia too well not to know that even if she did like it, it would never interfere with their working relationship.

She kissed Olivia back, and Olivia's hands came up to the front of her blouse, nimble fingers working the buttons without seeing them. The white silk blouse came off, then the white tank top Alex wore under the blouse to hid her bra lines came off too. She heard Olivia breathe against her jaw, "Pretty bra, Alex," before the slip of pink satin and lace slid off her shoulders.

"Matching panties," Alex said somewhat breathlessly. Olivia's eyes lit up, and she stood, pulling Alex up with her. The blonde's hips bumped lightly against the table as Olivia turned her, and Alex hiked her skirt up as she sat on the table. She didn't like the lines that pantyhose left under her thin linen skirt, and so she'd worn thigh-highs and garters under her suit today; Olivia seemed to appreciate that as she pushed the hem of the skirt up, unclipped the garters, and tugged down the delicate pink lace boy briefs. Alex leaned back on her hands on the table, responding to the gentle but insistent pressure of Olivia's hand against her shoulder. Olivia trailed hot, wet kisses down her jaw, the line of her throat, and down to Alex's breasts, and Alex cried out and arched her back as Olivia's mouth closed over one nipple.

Olivia licked, suckled, and nibbled, first very lightly, than slightly harder as all those lessons she'd learned as a pledge for Siena's most popular sorority house came back. At the time, it was just something new pledges did for the existing members of the sorority; Olivia did it because that was a requirement, and not because she felt any real attraction to any of the other girls. Still, she'd taken pleasure in being able to please another girl; now, knowing that girl was Alex, her best friend…well, it made things much more…personal. Not that she'd take it personally if Alex decided her door didn't swing that way, but she'd always been curious about the passion under Alex's cool exterior, and having the chance to bring it out now, not in a courtroom or otherwise at work, was an opportunity she intended to take full advantage of and treasure for the rest of her life. The sounds Alex was making now told Olivia she hadn't lost her touch, and if regrets were to come later, they wouldn't be from this.

She abandoned her work on Alex's upper body, and Alex gave a soft moan of impatience and thwarted lust. Olivia quieted her with a smooth hand stroke to her outer thigh, and responding to the unspoken signal, Alex parted her thighs. Olivia sat down in one of the chairs, distantly noting that the chairs were the perfect height for this, and left a trail of hot kisses from the inside of Alex's knee, heading in towards the nest of dark-blond curls. Alex kept herself trimmed neatly; something Olivia knew, from the few times over the last summer when they'd met at the gym and swam in the pool. Both women were excellent swimmers, and racing each other across the pool was a workout on its own. Alex looked great in bikinis, but she had to trim or something would have showed under the brief pale-green bikini bottoms. Olivia kept herself shaved; it was easier to maintain, given her busy lifestyle. A few minutes with a razor twice a week, and she didn't have to think about it anymore except before a date when she expected to have casual sex.

Alex used some sort of fragrant body soap that smelled delicately of lavender and chamomile; Olivia took a deep sniff right before her tongue licked out at the warm, moist center of her friend's body, and sent Alex into seizures of pleasure. Teasing, touching, licking, sucking and playing brought Alex right up to the edge, and she gasped out Olivia's name with panting, breathless cries as she wrapped her fingers in Olivia's short curls. "Liv…oh God, Liv!"

"Hey!" Elliot called out as he saw the shorter figure in the darkness ahead of him, bulky black leather jacket outlined by the illumination from the streetlamps He picked up his pace, careful not to spill the two cups of coffee he held.

"Whatcha doing here so late?" he asked Fin as he fell into step beside the shorter detective.

"Might ask the same of you," Fin said, smiling. "Burnin' the midnight oil?"

"Nah," Elliot shook his head as they turned and walked up the precinct steps. "Alex wanted to go over our testimony for the trial, and she and Liv are still going at it. I was going to head home, but I saw Liv's favorite coffee shop was still open and I figured that she might need some. Alex has been a little on edge lately, and she's probably snapping Liv's head off right now."

"Yeah, well, the way Cooper's been gettin' on Alex's case ain't too cool, you know?" Fin held the door open for Elliot. "I been thinkin' of sayin' somethin', but Alex ain't my girl, and I figure she can take care of herself." They headed into the squad room.

Fin went to his desk to pick up some paperwork, and Elliot headed toward the conference room, the light under the door a sure indicator that Liv and Alex were still working. Fin was about to turn and leave when he realized Elliot had stopped right in front of the door, was standing unmoving, and staring. He followed Elliot's line of sight, and never heard his file folder hit the floor.

"Holy God," Elliot breathed fervently as Fin joined him in staring through the half-open blinds in the conference room. "Please tell me I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing."

Fin swallowed hard. "You're seeing it," he said in a harsh whisper. "I'm seeing it too. Hot fuckin' damn."

They stood in rapt silence, feeling like dirty voyeurs but unable to take their eyes off the scene unfolding in front of them. Alex, naked to the waist, sat on the edge of the conference table, panties hanging off one ankle. Olivia stood in front of her, also nude to the waist, with her belt unbuckled and Alex's hand down the waistband of her pants and panties. It was quite clear what that hand was doing down there from the expression on Olivia's face; and Olivia's hands were running through Alex's hair as the blond suckled on one nipple. The rooms were supposed to be soundproofed, but in the complete silence of the squad room, the two watching men could hear every pant, every breathless gasp, every heated moan coming from the women.

Alex got impatient with the strictures of Olivia's pants and pushed them down off the detective's trim waist, then quickly slid off the table, taking her mouth off Olivia's nipple to slide the plain black panties off as well. Her mouth found the shaved smooth slit, and the hot, tight cleft between, already wet and waiting and hungry for her. Olivia took a few stumbling steps backward, to lean against the wall, and parted her thighs to give Alex access.

Alex was reeling. What the hell was she doing? She'd _never_ done this before. Had never even _thought_ about doing this, not to Olivia and definitely not here, at work. A niggling little voice in the back of her mind kept insisting that this was wrong, that someone might be watching, but her adventurous side was quickly banishing all those thoughts in favor of just one; getting Olivia to feel the way Olivia had made her feel. She'd never had an orgasm like the one she'd had a few minutes before; she'd never dreamed it could feel this good. Olivia was right; a woman knew another woman's body better than a man…although Alex would never completely give up men, this was heady and satisfying in its own way.

Her tongue found Olivia's clit, and Olivia cried out her name and arched her hips into Alex's mouth. Alex raked the little bump of nerves with her teeth; lightly, but hard enough for Olivia to feel it, and the detective bucked against her again, frantically, her slit getting wetter with every passing minute. "Alex…Alex!" the tension was building, building…and as Alex slid two fingers tentatively up into Olivia's body, the sensation of those two digits worming up into her sent her off, over the edge, and she barely noticed when her knees buckled and she sat down on a nearby chair, hard, Alex's manicured fingernails touching the spot deep inside her that made her scream in ecstasy.

Alex collapsed to a sitting position on the floor, carefully pulling her fingers out of Olivia's body, and looked at the sticky products of Olivia's orgasm on her fingers for a moment, thinking about what they'd just done. Olivia, thinking that Alex was regretting it, pulled her friend to her feet, wrapped her lips around Alex's fingers, and licked her own juices off, cleaning herself from her friend's hands, then asked quietly, "Well, what do you think? Alex, I'm sorry…I meant to tease you a little bit, I didn't want this to happen like that here…"

Alex placed her hand over Olivia's mouth, stopping the flow of words. "Olivia. Stop." Olivia stopped. Alex took her hand away and pressed her lips to Olivia's, this time initiating the kiss. It deepened, becoming more passionate, until they both broke it off to come up for air. "I liked it, Olivia. My God, if I knew it was going to be like this…what college did you say you went to again?"

"Siena." Olivia bent over to pull her panties and pants up.

"Wow. I think I should have gone there." Alex shook her head as she pulled her skirt down and picked her bra up off the table where it had lain, forgotten. "I think I missed something somewhere along the way." She fastened her bra, pulled her tank top over her head, then shouldered her blouse back on, pulling her blond hair out of the collar. "Olivia, have you ever…since college?"

"No," Olivia said as she pulled her shirt on. "I wasn't really interested…and I didn't find anyone I really wanted to do that with. I'm really more straight."

"Could have fooled me." Alex buttoned her blouse.

"Hey, me too," Olivia grinned as she collected the papers scattered across the table. "You did great. I think we might be able to pull this off, Alex. Especially to fool Cooper into getting off your tail." She leaned over and winked, but it didn't fool Alex. They could use Cooper as an excuse, but they both knew the other had liked it, and it would be repeated…soon. They weren't lesbians, but Alex was suddenly firmly decided that she was bi. "That gorgeous tail. Hey, think we ought to skip out? I got a couple of beers at my place, we can sit and figure out how we're going to get the rumor started so Cooper will get off you." She considered, and a slow smile spread across her face. "And we can…practice."

Elliot choked. Aware that the slight noise might have alerted the women to his (and Fin's) presence, the two men beat a hasty retreat out of the squad room, choosing the least likely place for them to look; the crib.

"Think they heard us?" Fin gasped as he closed the door ever so softly after Elliot nipped in, still dazedly holding the two cups of now-cold coffee.

Elliot peered out the window in the door. "No, they're still in there." He sat down heavily on one of the bunks. "Damn."

"You're tellin' me." Fin sat next to him and stared at the floor. "Man. Alex and Liv. You ever know Liv swung that way?"

"No. Never knew. Damn, you think you know a person…" Elliot shook his head, then looked at Fin pleadingly. "How the hell am I going to look at her straight tomorrow? For that matter, how are we going to look either one of them in the eye after this?"

Fin shook his head. "I dunno 'bout you, Elliot, but when I leave I'm gonna get drunk. Sloshed. Maybe I won't remember this in the mornin'."

"I guarantee you that isn't going to work," came an amused voice from the doorway. Both men looked up, their deer-in-the-headlights expressions perfect mirrors of each other. Olivia leaned against one side of the doorframe, her eyes twinkling with humor, her lips twitching in an effort not to break into an involuntary smile. Behind her, Alex stood smoothing her hair, trying to look as if she hadn't just climaxed her brains out. Elliot felt his face going red all over again, and tried to fight the flush.

"So how much did you guys see?" Olivia asked. Elliot just shook his head and stared at the floor, unable to look in Olivia's eyes. He felt like a little boy caught peeking in the girls' bathroom.

Olivia laughed and came to crouch in front of him, forcing him to meet her steady, amused gaze. "Elliot. It's okay. You're my partner, you know everything else about me. You might as well know this."

"I don't _wanna_ know. I _don't_ wanna know. I don't wanna _know_." Elliot repeated it like a mantra.

"Too late for that, El. You know." Olivia sat on the floor and crossed her arms. "If it makes you feel any better, we were trying to see if we could make it look convincing enough to fool Harry Cooper into leaving Alex alone. I like guys, really."

"I like guys, too," Alex commented from the door. "Just not Harry Cooper." She felt lightheaded, giddy, floating; and she couldn't resist twisting the needle a little more. "Though, after Olivia, I might change my mind."

Elliot looked up at her, his face so pathetically tragic that she and Olivia found themselves laughing. "Relax, Elliot. It's not like we're suddenly going to start ripping each other's clothes off in court. This is strictly friends, strictly personal, completely off-duty." Olivia said. "But hey, Alex and I would appreciate it if word got around that we're…seeing each other."

Fin found his voice. "_You set this up."_

"Not deliberately," Olivia admitted with a glance at Alex. "We didn't know you were there until I heard Elliot cough behind the door. But I do remember hearing a noise like papers falling, which is when I assume you guys started watching. But now that you've seen this, it would simplify things entirely for us if you went ahead and talked about it. Maybe you could mention it to John in the hearing of, say, Johnson. He's got a lot of friends in uniform, and those uni's get around. Harry Cooper will hear about it in three days, minimum; end of the week, tops."

"And since he's anti-gay, he'll drop you like a hot potato," Fin observed. "I think we can do that."

"So you did this all to fool Cooper?" Elliot sounded like a drowning man grasping at straws, and he knew it.

Olivia gave him a thoughtful look, and then said, "El, I like guys. I really do. I do want to get married and have kids someday. But I learned about girl sex in college, and while it's not something I'd ever thought about doing after I left the sorority, with Alex, it's…different. It's a way out of her problem, and it's a release for both of us. I'm not a lesbian. I'm bi. I accepted that a while ago, and while it's not something I advertise, it's who I am."

"I'm sorry, Liv. It's just…you think you know a person…" he shook his head. "It…took me by surprise, that's all."

She saw the look on his face. "Elliot, I'm Olivia. I'm your partner, I'm the same person who's got your back every day out there. Just because you just found out I'm bi doesn't mean I'm any different, that I've suddenly changed. Is this going to change anything between us?" she looked a little worried. "Am I going to have to ask for a transfer?"

"No." Elliot was sure of that much; he didn't want anyone but Olivia at his side. "No, I'll…I'll be all right." He met Olivia's gaze squarely, sensing Alex's and Fin's eyes on him, watching his reaction, forming their own opinions. "I'll be all right, Liv." Really, he would be. She was his partner, his friend, the one he could talk to about work like he couldn't talk to his wife. Just because her door swung both ways didn't mean she was any less a good person. It wasn't going to make a difference in how they worked together, and that was all he needed to worry about. He stood. "Come on, Fin, I could use a couple of those beers." Fin smiled at Olivia and Alex and left with Elliot.

"Fin will be cool with it," Olivia said as she grabbed her purse and coat out of her locker. "John might pick on me a little, but I think he'll take it in stride. And the Cap doesn't need to know; when he hears the rumors, he'll ask me if it's going to interfere with work. I'll tell him it won't, and that will be it." She flashed Alex a brilliant smile. "If you're up to giving me a ride home, I can give you a couple of beers and the other side of my bed to crash on for the night. We have to be back here in five hours anyway. You're about my height, so you can borrow one of my suits if you can't get back to your place in time to change before court."

"Lead on, Detective." Alex grinned.


End file.
